Memorial Day Barbecue

[forgethell]

Last year I bought a Texas-style horizontal offset smoker. Been experimenting with it ever since. I finally determined that I didn't like my ribs too smoky or cooked for long hours at low temperature like it says in all the BBQ books.

So I decided to find out exactly how it is done at the commercial pits that I frequent.

First, thing: they use an open pit. The fire is built about 3 feet under the pig meat. Further, I don't know how they start it out, but they didn't add coals to the fire, they just threw more hickory on when they needed more fuel. This was direct heat, not indirect heat. They controlled the heat with a hose pipe, with which they occasionally spray the meat and fire.

Cooked for about an hour. Plus however long until somebody buys it. They did not remove the membrane, the smoky flavor was there with a light smoke ring, but was not overwhelming. The texture was tender, but chewy rather than falling off the bone. This is the way I prefer it, although I realize other people may prefer it differently.

So, how to duplicate this on my Char Broil Silver Smoker? What I did was I laid a double layer of fire brick on the smoke exit side of my cooking area and lined the air entry side with aluminum foil. I lit a starter full of charcoal and spread it over the aluminum foil. Then I added hickory logs (not chips or chunks) and made a wood fire. I did not use the offset firebox at all, although I might try it next time so I'll have more space to cook ribs.

I had two slabs of ribs. I put them in a 2 1/2 gallon plastic freezer bag with 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, then filled it with water and brined for 4 hours, the last outside of the refrigerator so that the temperature would not be too cold.

After the fire had formed coals, I threw those babies on the fire and grilled them for about 10 minutes each side (lid down). Then I moved them over to the other side, sprayed with water from a spray bottle and left them for an hour. (The temperature at the thermometer varied from about 310 F to 270 F. At the cooking surface, I have determined it to be about 10 F cooler). I resprayed and flipped them over.

At the end of another hour I checked the meat temperature. It was a little low, but it was time to eat, almost, so I moved them back over the grilling area for another 1/2 hour. At the end of that time, I checked the temperature. It was about 180 F, so I took them off and ate them. Oh, I forgot, I had rubbed the ribs with Stubb's Rub.

They were great. Not as good as Archibald's or Dreamland's, but getting there.

Hope your Holiday was as happy.